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Course Overview

Edward Gibbon's stirring Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire painted an unforgettable portrait of the Roman Empire in a long, debilitating slide to oblivion, culminating in an agonizing death at the hands of barbarian savages. But two centuries after Gibbon, historians have reevaluated this picture to create a radically different understanding of the period, which they now call "late antiquity."

This new view posits several fundamental changes:

"Barbarians" were not all one people; they weren't particularly barbaric; and they entered the empire mostly by invitation or migration—not by invasion.

The sack of Rome by Visigoths in 410 was effectively a looting spree. Churches were spared and there was no slaughter of the population.

The "fall" of the western Roman Empire in 476 was hardly noticed by people at the time. It was only long after the fact that it was seen as a cataclysmic event.

Contrary to Gibbon's view of Christianity as a cause of Rome's decline, much of the empire's legacy lived on through the institutions of the church.

Far from being a period of decline and fall, late antiquity marked one of history's great turning points. The fundamental reordering of the Roman Empire that took place spawned three great civilizations: Medieval Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic Caliphate. This startling transformation survives to the present day in many of the political, cultural, and religious traditions spanning the region from the British Isles to the Middle East—traditions that have spread their influence around the planet.

Late Antiquity: Crisis and Transformation takes you through five momentous centuries that link the Classical world with the modern, in 36 half-hour lectures by distinguished medieval historian Dr. Thomas F. X. Noble, Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Notre Dame.

Continuity and Innovation

A brisk and entertaining lecturer and winner of prestigious teaching awards from the University of Virginia and Notre Dame, Professor Noble shows in fascinating detail how one storied era, the Roman Empire, gradually faded into something remarkably new but also recognizably the same.

Covering the period from A.D. 235 to 750, Late Antiquity opens with Rome near its pinnacle of power and geographical extent, stretching from Mesopotamia in the east to Spain in the west; from the Sahara Desert at the empire's southern limit to the Scottish highlands, the Rhine, and the Danube at its northern frontier. Yet severe cracks were beginning to appear. One portent of trouble: Between 235 and 284, a succession of 70 legitimate emperors and usurpers waged a bloody struggle for imperial control.

Five hundred years later, the map over which these men fought was almost unrecognizable. The Byzantine Empire, centered at Constantinople, was the only administrative division of the old Roman Empire still extant. From the east through North Africa to Spain, the new civilization of Islam ruled. And most of what had once been the western Roman Empire had broken into a succession of barbarian Christian kingdoms.

But where earlier generations of historians saw the end of Roman civilization, the new scholarly consensus is that Rome was reinventing itself, seeding its customs and culture into the sibling civilizations of western Christianity, Byzantium, and Islam.

In this course, you explore these key features of late antiquity:

How this tripartite division occurred

The memorable rulers who led the way, such as the Roman emperors Diocletian, Constantine, and Justinian; the barbarian kings Alaric and Clovis; and the Islamic caliphs Mu'awiya and Abd al-Malik

The advances in systematizing legal codes, which made late antiquity one of the greatest periods of jurisprudence in history, contrary to its reputation as a time of decay and disorder

The ebb and flow of different barbarian peoples, who were often ethnically diverse confederations of disparate tribes

The religious leaders who forged Christianity and Islam, including Anthony, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and Muhammad

The architecture, visual arts, and literature of the period, which reflected both continuity with existing classical models and daring innovation

You also learn what it was like to live in the late antique world, how people earned their livings, how the rich and poor differed, the role of women in society, and the great cities of the era and what distinguished them.

New Institutions, States, Religions, and Arts

The long course of Roman history had its share of surprises, with stretches of stability punctuated by wars and the rise of successive rulers. But nothing in Rome's previous experience compared with the ferment of late antiquity, which saw the unpredictable growth of new institutions, states, religions, and arts. A betting person at the time, says Professor Noble, would have been very reluctant to risk a wager on any of the following developments, which in fact came to pass:

that the crisis of the 3rd century would be resolved by a seemingly ordinary general named Diocletian, who became emperor and gave the moribund empire a new lease on life for another two centuries;

that the followers of Jesus would not only establish the Roman state religion but also amass powers exceeding those of the emperor;

that the Old Testament prohibition against graven images would be ignored by most Christian leaders, sparking the spectacular growth of creative visual arts in the church; and

that, most shocking of all, a new religion called Islam would arise among the desert tribes of Arabia, with militant adherents who would take over permanently a large part of the Roman Empire.

A Period of Transition

At the start of late antiquity, Christianity was a persecuted sect. A century later, Constantine legalized the faith and embraced it himself, attributing to Christ the victory that made him sole emperor. But when he built his triumphal arch in Rome, he identified his benefactor only as "the highest god," an ambiguous phrase designed not to offend pagans. This perfectly illustrates how late antiquity was a transitional period, with a new order and new sensibilities taking hold only gradually.

Professor Noble shows this transformation occurring in many areas, including philosophy, history, and poetry. For example, Christianity took ancient philosophy in an entirely new direction, with thinkers such as the church father Augustine challenging and adapting classical ideas to create a rigorous new theology. In fact, Augustine qualifies as the most prolific author in the Latin language, surpassing even Cicero in his ceaseless devotion to setting his wide-ranging thoughts to paper.

The traditional classification of literary periods divides pagan from Christian, even though the early Christian writers adopted classical models in their use of rhetoric, literary genres, and poetic meters. You learn why it makes much more sense to see the writings of the church fathers and other late antiquity authors as the last great age of ancient literature.

Five Eventful Centuries Made Clear

Anyone who has ever consulted a historical atlas cannot help but be struck by the mercurial, often confusing maps that represent late antiquity. The DVD version of this course features hundreds of specially designed maps (some of which are also included in the course booklet) that marvelously clear up the story of shifting peoples and borders over the course of five eventful centuries. Created under Professor Noble's direction, these visual aids are unique for any comparable presentation of the subject.

Another way Professor Noble clears up confusion is by casting the ethnic identities of the barbarians in an intriguing new light. "No premodern people we know about ever called themselves German," he says. Similarly, the Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, and other groups who are traditionally pictured as tribal hoards knocking down the gates of the empire are really complex amalgams of different peoples, who forged a unified identity under the process of ethnogenesis and then settled the Roman Empire under a wide range of circumstances—some violent, most not.

After taking this course you will never think of the barbarians and the "fall" of Rome in quite the same way again. Your imagination will be alive with the incidents, innovations, and peoples of an exciting era that gave birth to us all: late antiquity.

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36 lectures

| Average 30 minutes each

1

The World of Late Antiquity

After exploring the origin of the term "late antiquity," you learn why this historical view better reflects the period from the 3rd to the 8th centuries than the traditional view that Rome had a "decline and fall." This lecture also outlines the major themes and issues of the course. x

2

The Crisis of the 3rd Century

In this lecture you turn to the crisis of the 3rd century, when Rome found its frontiers threatened on several fronts. Armies made and unmade emperors with alarming regularity. The literature of the period also reveals unmistakable feelings of despair and uncertainty. x

3

The New Empire of Diocletian

No one could have predicted that Rome was about to raise up two of its greatest rulers: Diocletian and Constantine. You learn how Diocletian instituted a series of reforms that divided the empire into east and west while also launching the last and fiercest persecution of Christians. x

4

Constantine's Roman Revolution

Turning to Constantine, you see how he extended Diocletian's reforms. Among them, he gave the empire a new capital at Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople after himself. He also took the surprising step of legalizing Christianity. x

5

The House of Constantine, 337–363

Constantine's dynasty lasted through his sons and his nephew Julian, who continued the path of reform. You examine administrative, foreign policy, economic, and religious challenges during this period. In religion, Julian attempted to restore the pagan cults. x

6

The End of a Unified Empire

In the five decades after Julian's death in 363, the Roman Empire lurched from crisis to crisis. But it also raised up one of late antiquity's greatest rulers in Theodosius, who dealt with the Goths and the Persians and made Catholicism Rome's state religion. x

7

Ruling the Roman Empire—The Imperial Center

This lecture looks at the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the emperors, together with the basic ideas that sustained the imperial regime. Also examined are the people who advised the emperor and the nature of the offices they held. x

8

Ruling the Roman Empire—The Provinces

You turn here to the vast administrative hierarchy by which Rome accomplished the task of managing a state that extended from the north of Britain to Mesopotamia. Concluding reflections examine how effective Rome's government actually was. x

9

The Barbarians—Ethnicity and Identity

The barbarians were continually changing groups of peoples who defy the popular view that they were ethnically distinct tribes that invaded the empire in a coordinated fashion. This lectures asks: Who were they? What were their relations with Rome? And how do we know about them? x

10

Rome and the Barbarians

You take the Visigoths as a case study of barbarian interactions with the Roman Empire. The Visigoths under Alaric famously sacked the city of Rome in 410, but this was neither an invasion nor a catastrophe to the city. Around 418 they settled in Gaul under an imperial treaty. x

11

Barbarian Kingdoms—Gaul

In addition to the Visigoths, the Burgundians and the Franks also erected kingdoms in Gaul. As the 5th century unfolded, the Franks overwhelmed the Visigoths and the Burgundians, creating the most successful and long-lived of the barbarian kingdoms. x

12

Barbarian Kingdoms—Spain and North Africa

You examine the shifting fortunes of the barbarian kingdoms and their continuing relations with Rome. In 406 the Alans, Sueves, and Vandals crossed the Rhine, initiating a sequence of events that would eventually establish the Visigoths in Spain and the Vandals in North Africa. x

13

Barbarian Kingdoms—Italy

Sent to Italy by Constantinople to restore order, the Ostrogoths created a remarkable kingdom under Theodoric. In the turmoil after Theodoric's death, the emperor Justinian invaded Italy, launching the devastating Gothic Wars. Eventually defeated, the Ostrogoths were supplanted by the Lombards. x

14

The Eastern Empire in the 5th Century

This lecture steps back to survey the Eastern Roman Empire when the Western empire was embroiled in barbarian kingdoms. The long reign of Theodosius II (401–450) saw a great codification of Roman law, military successes in the Balkans, and continuing religious strife. x

15

The End of the Western Empire

You come to the event notoriously known as "the fall of the Roman Empire"—meaning the empire in the West. In 476 the barbarian general Odovacer overthrew the last of the Western emperors, Romulus Augustulus, inauspiciously named for two of Rome's greatest leaders. x

16

The Age of Justinian, 527–565

While Roman rule would never be restored in the West, the East raised up an exceptional ruler, Justinian, one of Rome's greatest emperors. His many reforms include the Corpus Iuris Civilis, perhaps the most influential collection of law ever assembled. x

17

The Christianization of the Roman World

How did an obscure religious sect eventually take over the Roman world? Christianity had two things that no pagan cult ever possessed: a recognized body of authoritative texts, and an increasingly sophisticated administrative system that gradually reached across the empire. x

18

Christianity and the Roman State

You examine how the Roman state shifted from persecution to tolerance to promotion of Christianity. Several key pieces of legislation built the church into the public and private life of the empire. Christianity and the Roman state each benefited, with Christianity benefiting more. x

19

The Rise of the Roman Church

It was by no means foreordained that the bishop of Rome, eventually to be called the pope, would achieve preeminence in the church. This lecture looks at how the bishops of Rome exercised their office and interacted with other church leaders. You also survey some significant early popes. x

20

The Call of the Desert—Monasticism

The emergence of Christian monasticism in Egypt is one of late antiquity's most dynamic and characteristic achievements. Instead of engaging the world, as the church and its leaders did, monks fled normal society. This lecture focuses on the Desert Fathers and their first followers. x

21

Monasticism—Solitaries and Communities

Within a century of monasticism's origins, monks and nuns could be found in large numbers in every corner of the Roman Empire. This lecture explores how and why the monastic movement spread. In the East the more solitary form of monasticism prevailed, whereas in the West the communal form triumphed. x

22

The Church Fathers—Talking About God

The writings of the church fathers represent the last great age of ancient literature. Among the Greek fathers, this lecture focuses on Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory Nazianzus and looks at how they helped create a vocabulary and structures of thought for the Christian faith. x

23

Patristic Portraits

Augustine was the most prolific author in ancient Latin letters, pagan or Christian. In his long and colorful life he became one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Christianity. In addition to discussing Augustine, this lecture considers Origen, John Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Jerome. x

24

"What Has Athens to Do with Jerusalem?"

Tertullian asked, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?"—meaning, why should Christians concern themselves with classical culture? You see how Christian writers adapted classical models in genres from philosophy to poetry to history. You also study the changing educational system in late antiquity. x

25

Graven Images—Christianity's Visual Arts

Given the Old Testament prohibition against graven images, it was by no means certain that Christianity would develop visual arts. But it did—in profusion. After Christianity gained legal status in the empire, the arts exploded in a dazzling array of frescoes, mosaics, and sculptures. x

26

The Universal in the Local—Cities

Cities were culturally dominant in late antiquity. At the same time, only 10% to 15% of people lived in urban areas. This lecture examines the nature of cities—large and small, central and remote—using careful reading of the evidence to extract information such as population numbers. x

27

Rome and Constantinople

You explore late antiquity's greatest cities, Rome and Constantinople, studying population, occupations, cultural attainments, and major buildings. During this time, Rome faced challenge, shrinkage, and decay, while Constantinople was a great city just coming into being. x

28

Visigothic Spain and Merovingian Gaul

You turn to Visigothic Spain and Merovingian Gaul. The Franks in Gaul and the Visigoths in Spain were the most successful of the early barbarian kingdoms. While the Visigoths eventually lost Spain to Berber and Arab invaders in 711, the Franks flourished under the Merovingian dynasty x

29

Celt and Saxon in the British Isles

Moving to the edge of the late antique world, you examine the British Isles, which provide a fascinating example of how peoples who were little if at all influenced by the Romans were drawn into the orbit of European civilization by the Catholic Church. x

30

The Birth of Byzantium

You shift to the part of the empire that lasted until 1453—the Eastern Roman Empire. Eventually it became a distinctive regime that historians call the Byzantine Empire, developing a separate foreign policy from the West and evolving into its own form of Christianity: Greek Orthodoxy. x

31

Byzantium—Crisis and Recovery

In the early 8th century, Byzantium appeared headed toward the same fate as the Western Roman Empire. But it was saved by a new dynasty of rulers, including Leo III, who instigated iconoclasm—the rejection of religious imagery. The end of the century saw the reign of the remarkable empress Irene. x

32

Muhammad and the Rise of Islam

The rise of Islam is the most surprising development of late antiquity. You begin with a survey of pre-Islamic Arabia. Then you turn to Muhammad and his essential teachings, concluding with a look at the situation in the Arabian peninsula on Muhammad's death in 632. x

33

The Rise of the Caliphate

After Muhammad's death, his associates fashioned a military machine that swept from Arabia to North Africa. By the early 8th century, parts of Persia and central Asia had also been overrun. This lecture concludes with a look at some of the early caliphs, the leaders considered to be Muhammad's successors. x

34

Material Life in Late Antiquity

How was wealth generated in the Roman imperial and post-imperial worlds? How was that wealth distributed through society? The most revealing aspect of material conditions in late antiquity is the vast disparity of incomes between the wealthy and the ordinary citizens of the Roman world. x

35

The Social World of Late Antiquity

This lecture looks at social conditions in the regions ruled by the Romans, the barbarian kingdoms, Byzantium, and the Caliphate. The all-pervasive feature of society that was most pronounced and likely to seem strangest to modern observers centered on entrenched ideas of hierarchy. x

36

What Happened, and Why Does It Matter?

At the end of the 8th century, how would the rulers of Byzantium, the Frankish Empire, and the Caliphate have looked back on the world of Diocletian, 500 years earlier? The answer says much about the remarkable transformations of late antiquity. You conclude with reflections on what makes this historical period distinct. x

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Your professor

About Your Professor

Thomas F. X. Noble, Ph.D.

University of Notre Dame

Dr. Thomas F. X. Noble is Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. He earned his B.A. in History from Ohio University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Medieval History from Michigan State University. Professor Noble has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and research grants from the American Philosophical Society. In 2008 he received the Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in...

Reviews

Late Antiquity: Crisis and Transformation is rated
4.6 out of
5 by
61.

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Tommyd555 from
I purchased this course because I was interested in how the professor would cover the "fall" of the Western Roman Empire and the birth of the various barbarian kingdoms but I didn't have high expectations based on my poor experience with his other course "Foundations of Western Civilization". I
I got a little more than I would've expected with this course. While he did deliver on the barbarian kingdom front (Lectures 10-13 and 15 were great listening on how the western half of the empire gradually dissolved into a series of barbarian kingdoms), I also found his early lectures on the Crisis of the Third Century and the latter courses on the Byzantine Empire and rise of Islam illuminating and worth the price of admission. Lecture 30 was probably his best one of the entire course (as far as capturing and retaining my attention was concerned) but lecture 33 on the conquests/spread of Islam and lecture 36 comparing the empires of Charlemagne (Franks), Harun al-Rashid (Abbasid Caliphate), and Irene (Byzantine) were right up there.
The downside to me were his lectures on Christianity and the church. Not that these aren't interesting topics on their own but for whatever reason I just wasn't drawn into the conversations on the subject in this course. The rise of the Bishops of Rome (lecture 19) was his best lecture on Christianity.
There were some minor annoying traits of the professors: there were assumptions that the listener has background on certain topics when setting the stage a bit would've help. But more frustrating is when he would come close to explaining something but seemed to fall a sentence short of articulating or summing up his actual point leaving you somewhat guessing. Most annoying is when he wrapped up the thought with his favorite phrase “You see”.
But we all have our own idiosyncrasies. All in all this was a better course than I expected going in considering I was not a fan of his presentation style in his course "Foundations of Western Civilization". I thought I'd end up possibly enjoying just the handful of lectures on the end of the Roman Empire but instead walked away with an appreciation for the way he covered other topics and empires.
These are the general topics covered by the course:
- The Crisis of the Third Century impacting the Roman Empire
- The reforms of Diocletian and Constantine in resolving the Crisis of the Third Century
- Rome’s interactions with the Barbarians
- Visigoths
- Burgundians
- Franks
- Alans
- Sueves
- Vandals
- Ostrogoths
- Lombards
- How the western Roman Empire 's political structure essentially disintegrated into a series of barbarian empires in the 5th century AD and why
- Gaul (France)
- Iberia (Spain)
- North Africa
- Italy
- History of the barbarian kingdoms through aprx. 750 A.D.
- Rise of Christianity and the Catholic church
- Spread of Christianity through the Roman Empire
- Rise of the bishops of Rome (Papacy)
- Origins of monasticism
- Early church fathers
- How the Eastern Roman Empire transformed into a different type of kingdom we now call Byzantine and its history through aprx. 750 A.D.
- The birth, rise, and spread of Islam under these caliphates:
- Umayyad
- Abbasid
Despite some flaws I would recommend this course since it achieves what it set out to do: provide a good overview of the world of late antiquity.

Date published: 2018-11-27

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Rall from
The seeds of the world we are livng in todayThis course explains the beginnings of three major institutional concepts Europe and the world are living with today; Christianity, Islam, and the nation-state. The seeds of the issues and conflicts we are living with today were planted during the period approximately 200 AD-800 AD. Professor Noble brings this point home very clearly. What we today call Europe, North Africa, and the Easter Mediterranean were, around 200 AD, basically a collection of tribes and clans with a variety of religious beliefs. Some, or perhaps most, of whom had the Roman Empire as an overlord. By 800 AD Christianity was spreading through Europe, Paganism was dying, Islam was marching into Asia and North Africa, and nation-states (although that term wasn't formalized for about another 800 years) were forming in Europe. Since then countries and religions have "argued" over boundaries, political systems, and whose religion was best. Welcome to the world we have today ! it basically started during "Late Antiquity".
As a result of taking this course I went back and re-did Professor Harl's course "The Fall of the Pagans and the Origins of Medieval Christianity" . The two courses go well together. Harl's course going into more detail about the religious aspects than Noble. Each professor brings out different details and some different opinions.

Date published: 2018-09-17

Rated 3 out of
5 by
Archaeologist from
Maps, coins, and graphics, oh my!This is a very complex period of history with many migrations, invasions, changing borders, etc. The maps, coins, and graphics that were used to illustrate these trends were not presented well--it was often difficult to tell what they were meant to illustrate. The coins were not identified and the views of Constantinople were not explained. Also, these visual aids were often only on the screen for a few seconds making them difficult to "read." It would have been better to have the illustrations on the screen while Prof. Noble was speaking rather than cutting back to him. Overall, a good series, but could be improved by using more and better illustrations that stayed on the screen longer.

Date published: 2018-04-15

Rated 1 out of
5 by
gartc7 from
Too many lists of people, wrong mapsLate Antiquity: Crisis & Transformation #3480
Limited views, too many lists of people without interpretation, some wrong maps, poor presentations, etc. This one is going back.
Could be titled “A list of leaders in western Europe from 200 AD to 800 AD, with un-explained coins of each person”
1. The presenter has pauses in speech, the a fast burst talking too fast & repeat – distracting presentations.
2. Only a brief mention of the Muslim invasion & rule of the Iberian peninsula.
3. Mentions important cities – like Arles over Marseille; Trier over Paris, etc., No explanation why.
4. Shows many coins, with limited explanation of what they mean, say, or imply.
5. To many : “greatest”, “Biggest’, etc. p. 91 “Jerome was the greatest scholar of all church fathers”
6. Some maps are wrong – Chapter 34 map shows Toulouse just north of Marseille!
7. Shows the Roman capital moving to Ravella – but no explanation of why the move & why not to Rome.
8. Some strange numbers – chapter 34 says income of 20 pounds of gold ! & similar amounts of gold that could not be reasonable.
9. No explanations of real activities of daily life of the common family, how did they live, where were animals housed, what foods did they eat, etc.
10. Skims over any detail of lack of continuity of popes. Some histories show gaps & major divisions of popes. He is a professor at Notre Dame.
11. page 70 – “all accounts agree that after the crucifixion all of Jesus’s followers abandoned & denied him” ???!! Never saw that before.
12. page 95 “Boethius discussed predestination, free wall – etc. – So what did he say?? Often suggests what topic was covered – but no real explanation of what was said or meaning.
13. p 105: :Christianity slowly changed the topography of cities”. How? Why? When?

Date published: 2018-04-07

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Zard from
Zard review of Late Antiquity: Crisis & TransformaThis course was really excellent because of the presenter and the material. Dr. Noble is an excellent teacher. He is clear and concise, repeats important points, gives great examples and he is pretty funny.
The subject material was massive but he kept it tight and contained and he is pithy. I like pithy. For me I knew a little about most of the material presented but this was put together so that you could see the flow of time and its affects from the past to the present to the future. There was nothing disjointed in the presentations. Everything flowed evenly. I learned a lot of new things and got a real good sense of how things transpired from antiquity to the middle ages.
This series of lectures really did a GREAT job of showing how events and the times flow from one period of time to another.

Date published: 2018-02-19

Rated 5 out of
5 by
RoyT from
Excellent!Excellent!
I held off for some time on this course due to its 36-lecture length, but as it turned out Professor Noble carried me along without any boring stretches. He reasonably settles on 235-750 A.D., as parameters of the sometime disputed chronology for late antiquity. Though he recommends Edward Gibbon’s “…brilliantly written and still influential” [late eighteenth century masterpiece] ‘Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ (Course Guidebook, page 168), the premise of this course, in line with modern scholarship, is that there was actually no fall. Rather, late antiquity is a distinctive historical period, “…not a declining Roman world or the emerging medieval world” (Page 149). As so well presented by Professor Noble, late antiquity is one of history’s “great turning points” (Page 152), a period of “intense dynamism” (Page 1).
In addition to there not being a “fall” of the Roman Empire, there was no barbarian “invasion” either. I especially appreciated Professor Noble’s treatment of the barbarian peoples, a matter which he shows is much more complex than often assumed. The detailed case study of the Visigoths as a stand-in for other barbarian groups is a stellar treatment. He ably demonstrates that the barbarians were not nomadic and migratory, setting the stage for an even fuller treatment of their relations with the Empire. In all of this, Professor Noble provides a good deal of telling detail and stories. For example, he relates the treatment of Goths in dire need of food (let into the Empire to settle) being sold dog meat by the Romans in exchange for their children, who were then sold into slavery, and asks “…now who is the civilized person and who is the barbarian here…” (Audio only, Lecture 6)?
As interesting as the treatment of Rome and the barbarians is, there is a lot more in this course. Notable among the other matters covered are Imperial administration; succession of emperors; social, economic, and cultural developments; the Western/Eastern split of the Empire; and, certainly not least, the rise of Christianity and Islam, perhaps the most significant development and legacy of late antiquity. I especially recommend Professor Noble’s two lectures on the rise of Islam. They are first-rate and more detailed than any other TC course I have yet taken covering this period.
The course lectures just speed along. Professor Noble, however, pauses occasionally to remind us of historical contingency and that matters could have turned out much differently with just a few changes in circumstances, or that, for people at the time, later developments would have seemed highly unlikely or impossible. The triumph of Christianity in the Empire is just one of many examples he cites.
While this course overlaps with several other TC courses, notably those by Kenneth Harl, it does not duplicate or replace any of them. If anything, it is a fine complement to those other courses. I recommend starting with the last lecture “What Happened, and Why Does It Matter?” for a good orientation to what is to come. The 172-page guidebook is good, though I would have appreciated some maps. The lecture summaries are helpful as are the chronology, glossary, biographical notes, and annotated bibliography.
Very highly recommended.

Date published: 2018-01-18

Rated 5 out of
5 by
IraV from
BEGINNERS BE PATIENT, MATERIAL IS VERY RICHThis course contains a great lot of very versatile material. This is served to the viewer by a highly refined and expert server (Professor Noble) who follows a well organized procedure and accompanies the material with interesting pictures, maps and some computer graphics too. The dessert (lecture 36) is…awesome—one of the few instances of a course where the final lecture adds substantial value.
One of the organizational principles adopted by Noble is to separate the material in narrative lectures (in the course of which historical events are enumerated more or less in sequence) and “thematic” lectures each of which is devoted to a single topic. Lectures 17-27 (reminiscent of Ehrman’s numerous Great Courses) as well as lectures 7-8 and 34-35 are thematic. Here Noble’s approach is kaleidoscopic, he serves a variety of hors d’ oeuvres (but no more), one would think in order to whet our appetite for further…private study or even for Ehrman’s courses which are much more wholesome. Of course, Ehrman has so much more time at his disposal!
Although Professor Noble is obviously an excellent teacher, I would not recommend the DVDs as a first course on Late Antiquity. They contain such a wealth of information packed so densely that (in a way falling victim to Noble’s conscientiousness) they feel like a heavy Handbook which would, in my view, overwhelm students with absolutely no prior acquaintance with this period.
Now I wish to turn to some idiosyncratic comments. Professor Noble’s teaching made only little of the material come alive before my eyes. I would tentatively attribute this personal reaction to Noble’s tight organization, remorseless “pigeon-holing” and relative (though clearly not invariable) preference for abstraction and obliqueness, occasionally verging on being evasive, as opposed to being concrete—this is probably the Professor’s coping strategy with limited lecture time but it often left me with a sense that, as it were, he did not want to put the finger “into the print of the nails”.
Am I being blasé ? Well, I have been carried away by Professor Harl’s lectures on the Fall of the Pagans and on Rome and the Barbarians which cover many Late Antiquity topics and overlap with Professor Noble’s course, albeit only partially since Noble’s course is so very comprehensive. Still, come to think about it, there was one lecture by Noble which did elicit a sentimental reaction from me. It was No. 24 entitled “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem”. In the course of this key lecture, Noble characterized as “no small accomplishment” (sic) a series of Late Antique intellectual developments. These developments included, among others, the abandonment of historiography in the Thucydidean style (which expressly avoided supernatural explanations) and a movement towards historiography exploring how… the hand of God steers human history. As a great grand child of the Enlightenment, I was appalled!
In general, I completely fail to see what is the point behind Noble’s spending so much time to debunk Gibbon’s approach and instead to “sell” Late Antiquity as a sort of progressivist era, full of what Noble calls “achievements”. I don’t need any reassurance that Late Antiquity was a “good” period, rather I find Noble’s near-moralizing tone quite out-of-place and, from my perspective, definitely counterproductive. Late Antiquity is a mesmerizing period but if we are to court with value judgements, I would rather vote in favour of Harl’s position (lecture 24 The Fall of the Pagans) according to which, especially with the rein of Justinian, an iron curtain of totalitarianism (Harl speaks specifically in relation to religious persecution) descended across what had remained of the Roman Empire. Overall, however, I have no intention of pitting one titan against the other (i.e., Harl against Noble) for I acknowledge that they are both magnificent and provide complementary products so a to satisfy a wide range of viewers’ tastes!

Date published: 2017-08-24

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Farwest8 from
A Necessay CorrectiveI needed something to listen to in my truck on long drives so I bought this set without any real knowledge about it. It turned out to be a fascinating course, that provides a necessary corrective to the common narrative about Rome and Europe and how we got to the Medieval time period. Combine a real scholar with provocative content and it makes for riveting listening. I have a Classics degree but I must admit it did conform to exactly the structure traditionally set up and I'm so happy I got this course nad broadened my perspective and understanding of the totality of the Roman Empire.